Hands-on Review: Kajeet Phone Service

Much to my three kids' delight, we've been testing kajeet's new phone service designed for kids who want phones and parents who want to teach them to use them responsibly.

There's a lot to like about the approach kajeet has taken in the family phone service market because the startup began with two pretty important baseline beliefs. One, that kids are smart. And, two, that parents don't want to spend a kajillion dollars every month to keep their kids in 24/7 contact with them and their friends.

What I like most about the kajeet pay-as-you-go service is that instead of putting the emphasis on parents setting up controls, it's designed to empower kids to take charge of a monthly phone budget so they can see how much they can spend on phone service and then make choices about how they spend the money. Through some easy web tools, kids can also block calls from kids who are bullying them or spending too much of their monthly budget by sending way too many text messages.

On the kajeet web site, there's a log-in for parents and for kids. On the parents' page, parents and kids can use the time manager tool to block certain times of the day and week when the phone will not ring. School hours make up an obvious bloc that comes to mind; many schools require phones to be turned off during school hours and if they ring they can be taken away from the student. Kids don't want to lose their phones or get detention, so lots of 'tweens will see this as a good feature. The nice thing is you can enter an exception to the restricted times easily. Kids cannot change the time restrictions, but they can ask parents to do it or do it with them.

The kajeet web tools could not be easier to use. You can add contacts, then decide if calls from the number are allowed, not allowed, or always allowed. You can also decide where the money comes from to pay for that contact's calls—the parent's "wallet" or the kid's "wallet." Parents may want to pay for all calls to and from their child; it's also a backup to keep the service on in case your child uses up his wallet allowance. But the wallet feature is designed to make sure that doesn't happen by enabling kids to take responsibility for the money spent on calls, text messages, and added fun features, such as ring tones, wallpapers, and games.

Of course, there are lots of options for refilling the wallet. You can set the amount to be filled as one time only, once a week, once a month, once the account balance hits $5 or another limit you set in $5 increments. There's even a box for kids to make their case via email to their parents for why they deserve a refill.

You can both check on account activity to see every individual expense and use of the phone, including each daily 35-cent charge for the service. In addition, calls cost 10 cents a minute, text messages are 5 cents in and out, and sending photos costs 25 cents apiece. It all adds up quickly, but there are no other fees to activate, terminate, or make long-distance calls. And there are no extra charges when parents (or anyone else) call them from another phone and/or carrier. You can find answers to all your questions easily on the well-designed kajeet web site.

All of the above is what I like. Now, for my kids. They are kajeet fans. Even my 14 year-old likes the deep blue Sanyo Katana handset, which is very intuitive to use and has a nice sleek look and feel. She says she would not be ashamed to carry it. My 12-year-old and 10-year-old took to the handset right away, adding contacts, finding ring tones, wallpapers, and all the fun photo features within minutes, it seemed. My youngest, who is waking up to the fact that money is not an unlimited resource, liked that she could be in charge of her monthly phone budget and make decisions on how to spend it. (Of course, she would probably say and do anything to actually have a phone of her own.)

Kajeet offers a choice of four handsets ranging in price from $50 for an LG LX150 to $100 for the Sanyo Katana. They are sold on the web site or in Best Buy and Limited Too. Sprint provides the nationwide wireless coverage.

All in all, if you're thinking of outfitting younger kids with cell phones and want to use them well and wisely without running up a new monthly bill, kajeet is a well-designed service worth a closer look.